The Evil Twin?

by P. G. Van

  “Trust me girl, when I am done with your outfit he will have a tough time keeping his junk in his pants, and when he sees you flirting with Dev looking hot, he will come running to you,” Annie declared with confidence.

  “I seriously doubt the running back to me part, but I know I can get his attention, Annie.” I said hopefully.

  Annie spent about ten minutes adjusting the scarf to go on like a sash across my chest. She layered the sheer fabric in such a way that my cleavage peeked through the material and my abdomen was literally on full display except for a single layer of sheer material over it.

  Chloe walked into the room as Annie and I were almost ready to go. Chloe had picked a maxi style Indian outfit and paired it with chunky earrings.

  “Look at you Vinnie, you look like a super model,” Chloe complimented.

  “I know, that’s what I told her,” Annie agreed.

  “Stop it you guys, it’s because of the outfit.”

  “Enough with the modestly, Vin...You are one hot piece of ass,” Chloe giggled

  “Okay, how many drinks have you had so far Chloe?” I asked shaking my head.

  “I’ve got to teach you how to take a compliment,” Chloe teased.

  “Okay gals, the boys are on their way,” Chloe declared looking at her phone.

  “Okay Vinnie, are you ready for Reyan?” Annie asked winking at me.

  “Wait, you mean Neel?” Chloe corrected.

  “Nope, Reyan.”

  “What did I miss?”

  “Hold your curiosity down for a few more minutes and we can talk,” Annie said, smiling to Chloe.

  “And Vinnie, I need you to eat something today. You survived on orange juice all day yesterday,” Annie said in a firm voice.

  The food at the wedding looked delicious and yummy but it was all Indian food. I had not eaten real Indian food since my parents passed away, and I had avoided eating the food as it brought back too many memories of them that I could not handle.

  “I can’t eat Indian food,” I said softly.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. I love Indian food and I am not even Indian,” Chloe chuckled.

  “I know but…” My voice trailed off when I heard the knock on the door.

  “Our dates are here gals,” Chloe beamed.

  I followed Annie and Chloe making sure my outfit stayed in place. Neel greeted us at the door, and he smiled looking at the three of us and said, “My beautiful girls.”

  The girls walked past Neel to join Eddie and Reyan while Neel waited for me to slip my arm into his to be his fake girlfriend.

  I saw Reyan and Annie walk ahead of us, and I knew he was purposely avoiding making eye contact with me. I clung to Neel as we waited for the wedding ceremony to start while the rest of the gang joined the guests and took their seats.

  “What are we waiting for Neel?” I asked impatiently.

  “We are waiting for the bride and then we accompany her to the pavilion outside in the grounds. Since it’s my brother’s wedding and you are my girlfriend, you get to witness the wedding from a premium spot.”

  “Oooh, I can’t wait. I’ve never been to an Indian wedding, and this experience has been awesome,” I cheered.

  Twenty minutes later, I stood next to Neel as the ceremony took place at the center of a pavilion that was set up for the wedding. The pavilion was beautifully decorated with flower garlands of various colors and a huge fire was set up in the center for the rituals.

  My phone started buzzing making me take my eyes away from the fascinating rituals the bride and groom were performing.

  Annie was frantically messaging me.

  Annie: Mission accomplished!!!

  Annie: This dude is dying here

  Me:??

  Annie: Reyan.

  Me: Now what?

  Annie: He finally laid eyes on you and I can’t get him to look away.

  Me: Oh

  Annie: Oh yes, he is turning blue from holding his breath.

  Me: You are funny

  Annie: I am not kidding

  Annie: Look for yourself

  Me: Where are you?

  Annie: He is literally having trouble breathing

  I looked up from my phone and scanned the crowd for Annie and Reyan. It didn’t take me more than a few seconds to spot Reyan and as Annie had mentioned in her text, his eyes were riveted on my face; he refused to look away even when I made eye contact with him. I lowered my gaze feeling the burn on my cheeks from the intensity of his stare.

  Me: You weren’t kidding huh

  Annie: He is hanging his tongue out like a puppy

  Me: That’s pushing it...

  I looked up from my phone again and this time looked right into Reyan’s eyes; my mouth curved up when I found him looking at me. His face cracked through the annoyed expression he’s had since the time I saw him on the plane, and the beautiful smile returned. My heart flipped with happiness and my body felt high strung with energy when he returned my smile.

  Where do we go from here?

  I peeled my eyes away from him to focus on the wedding rituals and my phone would not stop buzzing. It wasn’t Annie but Reyan was texting me.

  Reyan: I’m still pissed off

  Reyan: You are not off the hook

  Me: For being realistic?

  Reyan: You were being selfish

  I stared at the message and realized there was some truth to it. I didn’t want to be hurt, but I surprisingly cared enough about him to spare him from my crap. I had convinced myself that he wouldn’t want anything to do with me because of the way things were and the things that I may have to deal with in the future.

  Me: I am pissed off at you too

  Me: I tried to talk to you all day yesterday and you ignored me

  Reyan: I am pissed off at you

  Me: Fine, have a good life!!

  I put my phone away in my clutch and refused to look at it as it buzzed away.

  Two hours later and three drinks down, I sat next to Neel feeling buzzed. I smiled at Neel’s parents pretending to be the ideal girlfriend as my mind wandered everywhere revolving around Reyan, but he had disappeared after the wedding and was nowhere in sight.

  I sat at the table with Neel’s aunt and family who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were in the middle of a conversation when Neel’s aunt suddenly spoke up.

  “I know where I’ve seen you before!!” she said with excitement.

  Holy shit!! If she has been to the Starbucks or the bar, Neel’s story will come crashing down.

  My head started to spin, and I wondered if it was from the stress of being busted or from all the alcohol.

  “Where did you see her before?” Neel asked as I sat silently trying really hard to steady myself.

  “I think I saw you at the Indian community center,” she said and added, “more than once. Do you volunteer there often?”

  I had a tough time suppressing my snort as Neel tried to come up with an explanation.

  “I don’t think that’s Vinitha. There is someone that looks like her. Are you sure it’s her?” Neel asked in a calm tone.

  “Looks a lot like her,” Neel’s aunt said smiling at me.

  “Mrs. Shah, I have had a lot of people ask me why I looked familiar, and they were all Indian,” I said laughing and added, “Now I know where to find my doppelganger.”

  “We should go find her, Vinnie,” Neel smiled looking at me.

  I leaned over towards Neel and whispered, “I freaked out thinking she saw me at one of my workplaces.”

  “I did too,” Neel confessed.

  My phone buzzed making me look for my clutch only to realize that my clutch was on the floor.

  Crap!! Did I drink that much?

  I reached for my phone and felt the heavy weight from the back of my head shift to my forehead.

  Aah!!Why does my head hurt?

  Annie: Need you gal, come see me in the patio.

  “Neel, I’ll be right back,” I leaned in care
fully to whisper into Neel’s ear.

  I stood up and felt the ground under me move, and I grabbed the backrest of my chair to steady myself. I took a deep breath and carefully walked towards the back of the huge banquet hall.

  I was sure Annie had seen me being tipsy and wanted me to get some fresh air. I barely made it past the double doors of the patio entrance, and I started to lose control of myself. I felt as if someone pulled the rug from under my feet, and I reached out hoping to grab on to something, anything. I was in the middle of the patio with nothing to grab onto and felt the cold air sweep up as my body fell back.

  I braced myself for a painful crash on the hard stone floor of the patio, and the next second I wasn’t falling anymore and was securely held in Reyan’s strong arms. My upper back crashed into his chest jolting me out of my buzzed state making me fully aware of the burn around my waist.

  Chapter 14

  “How much have you had to drink tonight?” his voice was rough.

  “I didn’t know I was supposed to keep count of the number of drinks,” I retorted looking into his eyes as I pulled myself out of his arms.

  He gripped my arms with his fingers and pulled me closer and said, “You almost fell flat to the ground a few minutes ago, let’s go.”

  “Reyan, let me go,” I hissed as he dragged me past the patio out into the open grounds. I stepped onto the plush green grass and felt the skirt graze on top as I struggled to break away from Reyan’s grip.

  “Reyan, stop it,” I commanded and he stopped short and turned to look at me.

  His breathing was heavy as he stood looking at me in the dimly lit area.

  “You’re hurting me,” I snarled taking a step away from him.

  “Mr. Bhatia!!” I heard a male voice call out from the patio.

  “Here!!” he responded to the voice and a few seconds later, I saw one of the hotel staff bring out a tray with a covered plate and a bottle of water.

  I watched in silence as Reyan took the tray from the guy and thanked him for bringing the stuff out to him. Reyan waited for the guy to leave and looked at me.

  “I am sorry I gripped you a bit too hard when I brought you out here,” he said softly and added looking towards the bench to one side of the grounds, “Can we sit down?”

  “Why?” I barked.

  “Didn’t you say you wanted to talk to me?” His manner had completely shifted to being very calm and composed.

  “Fine!! We can sit.” I turned away from him and walked towards the bench and sat on one side.

  Reyan placed the tray on the bench and sat on the bench with a wicked smile on his face.

  “What is so funny?”

  “It’s kinda cute when you are tipsy and cranky,” he chuckled and reached for the cover over the plate.

  I stared at the thin crust personal pan cheese pizza and felt my tongue hanging out of my mouth. I had not eaten in almost two days and the miniature pizza looked like heaven on a tray.

  I looked up from the pizza and asked, “Is this for me?”

  “If you want it,” he shrugged.

  I grabbed a double-sized slice and shoved it into my mouth. The feel of the thin crust cheese pizza was like no other pizza I had sunken my teeth into ever. My tongue took in every flavor of the pizza as I filled my tummy with some solid food.

  “This is the best pizza ever!!” I licked the marinara sauce off my fingers and gulped down water. Five minutes later there was no sign that a pizza existed on the plate as I had picked every little crumb off the plate. Reyan had sat looking at me savor the pizza, and I could tell he was entertained.

  “Thanks!!” I said dabbing my mouth with my fingers.

  “You are welcome,” he said and stood up.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I am going back in. You weren’t planning on hanging out here all night, were you?” he mocked.

  “I don’t want to go back in, they are all talking about how awesome my doppelganger is,” I whined.

  “What doppelganger?”

  “Remember, I told you about these random people asking me if my name was Nandi or if they have met me before…turns out she is a selfless volunteer who spends all her waking hours volunteering at the community center.”

  “I am sure you can deal with that,” he said and turned away from me.

  “Reyan, don’t go,” I pleaded.

  “My mission of making you eat something solid has been accomplished. I have to go.”

  I reached out and grabbed his jacket and pulled him back towards me. He let out a low grunt as he fell back on to the bench.

  “Now what?” he growled.

  “Why are you being so impatient? You said we could talk.”

  “I did not. I don’t really hang out with women that are not interested in me,” he mocked standing up while adjusting his jacket. I looked at him in disbelief as he started to walk away from the bench.

  “Reyan,” I called out almost a plea, but he didn’t stop or even slow down and continued to walk towards the patio. I got off the bench and sprinted towards him. I wrapped my arm around him from behind and flattened my chest against his back.

  “Please, don’t leave me,” I said softly.

  “It wasn’t my choice to leave you, it was all yours,” he grumbled.

  “Reyan, I am sorry I hurt you but…” my voice trailed off when he ripped my palms apart to turn around to look at me.

  “But what?” he snarled.

  “You don’t understand Reyan, I am the wrong girl for you.”

  “And who said it was up to you to decide?”

  “It’s complicated, you won’t understand Reyan,” I confessed.

  “Try me,” he challenged.

  “You’ve got too many rich people problems to understand my problems.”

  “Fine, have a good life,” he smirked and turned away.

  “Reyan, stop throwing a fit for every single word I say,” I said in an elevated voice and that made him freeze in his tracks.

  “Do not raise your voice at me, Vinnie. You are the one who messed up here,” he said harshly.

  “Give me five minutes to explain,” I pleaded and added, “Let’s go to my room. I don’t want to be caught getting cozy with my boyfriend’s best friend.”

  He smiled alleviating the ache in my gut and helping me swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.

  “Why don’t you go to your room and I go to my room,” he said with a wicked smile and added, “You just need to open the connecting door in your room from your side.”

  “You are not my neighbor, Annie is.”

  “Not anymore, I will see you in five.” He winked and walked away.

  I headed back into the banquet hall that now boomed with loud music. I managed to spot Neel and told him I was heading back to my room.

  I lifted the heavy skirt off the floor slightly as I walked into the elevator to go back to my room. I walked down the empty aisle towards my room looking around for Reyan. I stepped into my room and barely took a step when I heard the knock on the connecting door. I opened the door from my side to find Reyan filling out the frame of the door.

  “What do you want to talk about,” he said as if he didn’t want to waste anytime.

  I took a step towards him but he put his hand out and said, “You stay on your side and I stay on mine and we talk.”

  “You are being mean.”

  “I am just giving you a taste of your own medicine,” he snorted.

  “I totally deserve this Reyan, but can you please go back to being a nice guy?” I asked softly.

  He reached forward and wrapped one arm around my waist pulling me to him.

  “Who said I am a nice guy?” I felt his heated breath against my cheek and my hands wrapped around him pulling him closer.

  “Let go of me Vinnie, you don’t get to hug me,” he said smugly.

  “I am not going to let go.” I challenged and tightened my hold on him. He grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled away from me
while I fought tooth and nail to cling to him. I knew he had the strength to rip me away from him but he stood with his arms to his side.

  “What are you doing Vinnie?”

  “I want you Reyan, please.”

  “That’s not what I heard that f-ingly glorious morning.”

  “I know what I told you Reyan, I was being a wuss.”

  “I can’t take the risk of you being so flaky, Vinnie.”

  “Reyan, I promise I won’t be.” I looked into his eyes.

  “How can I trust you when you can’t trust me?” he challenged.

  “Reyan, you don’t understand, you are the only guy I trust,” I placed my cheek on his heaving chest and added, “I’ve never felt this connected with anyone else.”

  “More than Justin?”

  “What the heck, Reyan?”

  “You didn’t answer my question, Vinnie.”

  I looked up into his eyes and said, “Yes.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Justin didn’t want anything to do with me when he found out what happened that night and why it happened,” I said planting a kiss on his neck and added, “You didn’t leave me.”

  “Why did you ask me to leave?” he groaned and I felt his pulse quicken against my lips.

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care…all I know is I want you, Reyan.”

  “I don’t believe you.” He pushed me away and turned to close the connecting door on his side.

  “Don’t be an asshole Reyan, do you need me to beg you to take me back?” I said pushing the door open stepping into his room.”

  He scanned me with his mysterious eyes and an evil grin on his face. “Maybe I do.”

  After what I had put him through after that amazing night together, I knew he needed his ego stroked. I had no problem doing that as long as we could go back to where we started.

  I took a few steps to close the gap between us and wrapped my arms around his neck. I took my lips to his ear and started running my tongue along his outer ear and whispered, “I caught you staring at me all night, why are you fighting your need?”

  He nuzzled my neck and rasped, “Because I want more. I need you to tell me that you will give me more than a casual fling.”

  “Live in this moment, Reyan. You can have me anyway you want for tonight.”

  His body tightened, and I felt his arousal dig into my abdomen. I arched my back digging my hips into him and opening up my neck for him. His arm circled around my waist as he nipped on my neck making his way down.